


Reluctant Taxi Driver

by InsertImaginativeNameHere



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Bonding, But Not Much, Gen, He's going to have an aneurysm one of these days, I've not tagged this as anything because nothing happens, Kadota is too good lbr, Maybe a little bonding, Togusa is suffering through every stress ever, mostly just...nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 08:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10272107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsertImaginativeNameHere/pseuds/InsertImaginativeNameHere
Summary: The best Saburo could hope was that he’d rip that godawful panel off the side of his van. The worst wasn’t an option he wanted to think about but it involved a scrapheap and all his Ruri CDs being melted/crushed/otherwise destroyed in the subsequent disaster.Giving Shizuo a ride wasn't his idea to begin with, but somehow it didn't turn out as badly as he'd anticipated.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am in a very weird writing place rn so mostly I'm writing short things before I throw myself back into stuff and actually effffort. This is just a little thing I wanted to write for a while. Togusa is underappreciated ok I mean it's kinda a thing w him

It was raining. Heavily. The wipers were working overtime, squeaking ever so slightly, annoying the hell out of Saburo - like he needed any more reasons for road rage, with the shitty drivers and the traffic and the pedestrians and those two moe-obsessed piece-of-shit otakus sat in the back going on and on and on about things people had no right to talk about in public or offline or  _ at all _ . After putting up with their rambling and nonsense for long enough, in the end he pulled over, near enough to the subway station that they couldn’t complain and ordered them out. He’d heard enough about fantasies involving cute 2D girls for a lifetime  _ prior to this conversation _ and this was the final straw. Though of course, it wouldn’t be, and they’d be back soon enough, but he told himself it was it for now.

They complained, of course, about the injustice and unfairness, but a firm look from Kyōhei told them not to push it. Once they were gone it was so much quieter, almost peaceful, even. Saburo could finally relax-

“Hey, pull over,” Kyōhei said suddenly, pointing at an irate, dripping wet figure who looked on the brink of exploding. A figure so recognisable, one of the first rules of Ikebukuro was to avoid anyone matching his description. A blond bartender.

Saburo groaned. “Do we have to? I  _ like _ this van. Last time he was anywhere near it he ripped the door off, and now we have that terrible anime panel and-”

“That was different and you know it,” Kyōhei replied quietly and then leant out of the window. “Hey, Shizuo! You want a lift?”

Shizuo frowned, mulling it over, glanced around and then nodded, ducking down to get inside. The tension in his face dissipated as he settled back and relaxed. Meanwhile Saburo was overthinking everything he said or did. He really, really didn’t want his van to get trashed from the inside out. 

“Thanks, Kadota,” Shizuo said, in that quiet tone he had when not going berserk. Saburo scowled. Yeah, thank him. Never mind whose van this actually was.

“No problem, it’s the least we can do, right Saburo?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Where are you headed?”

“Uh...I’m meeting Tom at work. It’s not actually that far, but thanks anyway.”

“Like I said, no problem,” Kyōhei said cheerfully. “You looked kinda stressed, thought you’d appreciate it. Give the vending machine repair guys a break, y’know?”

Saburo tensed. If he’d made that joke he’d have been dead meat. But Shizuo got along with Kyōhei reasonably well and there was no malice intended, and was that a faint smile on Shizuo’s face? It was. Once again, Saburo marvelled at Kyōhei’s gift with people. He’d made a sort of friend-in-passing with one of the most feared people in town. While Saburo had gone and fought the guy once, in a headstrong haze he didn’t really remember much of thanks to the pretty impressive concussion he’d had afterwards. He remembered enough to never try again and stay out of his way in future. Nice try with that when you were shoved in a van together. Real good job.

They passed a huge billboard with Shizuo’s brother on, advertising his latest soon-to-be-blockbuster. It was more of an indie project rather than a huge franchise film like most of his work but it had debuted to rave reviews and would be opening to the public in a matter of days. He did look similar to Shizuo in many ways, a clear familial resemblance that was surprisingly easy to miss when you didn’t know about it. Normally Saburo would make a bitter comment about Yuuhei’s heinous theft of Ruri’s heart but the words died as soon as he thought them. It was safest if he just kept quiet and Shizuo himself seemed to prefer silence, or at the very least minimal speech. Nobody was jeopardising the van that way.

...nobody except the other idiot drivers on the road. Someone swerved out, cutting right in front of them so Saburo had to slam the brakes on hard, jolting them to a stop.

“You asshole! What the fuck are you trying to do, get us all kill-” He felt Kyōhei’s hand on his shoulder and fell silent. Cautiously he turned to look in the back, the air feeling tense, taut and beyond simply cold. The temperature gauge didn’t alter but it felt like the inside of the van was being coated in permafrost. 

Shizuo smiled, but it wasn’t friendly or anything but icily furious. “Driving like that could get someone killed, right? So they can’t complain if someone tries to kill them.”

Oh hell. They were doomed. He was moving to get out of the van. The best Saburo could hope was that he’d rip that godawful panel off the side of his van. The worst wasn’t an option he wanted to think about but it involved a scrapheap and all his Ruri CDs being melted/crushed/otherwise destroyed in the subsequent disaster. 

And just as he was starting to feel a hint of sympathy for the guys that had almost run into them (though it was outweighed somewhat by schadenfreude and a distinct sense of karma), Kyōhei leant back and gave Shizuo an attempted smile. 

“Hey, Shizuo. Do you really wanna do this now, with your brother watching?” He gestured up at the billboard. Shizuo regarded him coldly, his expression unreadable. “Lot of bad drivers on the road. Get pissed at all of them, we’ll be here all day.”

Saburo could feel himself holding his breath. He heard someone behind them beeping for them to move, which wasn’t helping his current stress levels. Closing his eyes, he started to count, praying Kyōhei hadn’t only made matters worse. 

The door closed. He opened his eyes. 

“Sorry about that,” Shizuo said quietly. “I just can’t stand bad drivers. They shouldn’t be on the road.” He smiled, just a little. “That was why I never got my license.” His expression soured, going from relatively relaxed to vein-pulsingly furious in seconds. “That and that flea.”

And Saburo knew whatever road rage he had was minor in comparison with  _ that _ . Putting Shizuo behind the wheel was the worst possible idea. Ever.

“You...uh...you work at that building, right?” He asked, the first thing he’d said to Shizuo the entire journey. It was the only thing he could think to say.

Shizuo’s anger dissipated as suddenly as it had reared its head. He nodded. “I’ll walk from here. Thank you.” He inclined his head respectfully and exited the van. 

As soon as he was gone, Saburo breathed a sigh of relief. “Well. That could have been worse.”

“Like I said, he’s not that bad. Still, aren’t you glad you threw  _ those two _ out earlier?”

Saburo snorted. “Aren’t I ever?”

 

-

 

A week or so later, Saburo was driving alone and passed Shizuo and his dreadlocked boss on their collection rounds. He didn’t offer a lift but he saw Shizuo nod in acknowledgement.

Apparently they were on good terms now. Which was a good thing? Right? Had to be. 

Saburo nodded back and Shizuo readjusted his glasses, looking away.

The traffic lights changed and Saburo drove on.


End file.
